I’m so happy that Good Times did some real good (OK, we do a lot of good).
But in this case, a cover story in the early 2000s led to the creation of an amazing home store, Mario’s Lighting in Soquel, where Mario Guizar, a home builder who learned some of his skills at Cabrillo College, turns worn-out light fixtures people might throw away into great art.
You have to love it. This is masterful recycling, keeping things out of landfills and turning them into beautiful home fixtures.
He saw a robot-like creation on Good Times’ cover and thought he could make similar artistic creations for lighting and, voila!, a truly great home lighting business was created. Read the backstory in Josh Logan’s masterful article in our Home and Garden section.
Fall is like another planet’s spring, with the world taking on new colors and textures. And, while in other places it is the start of hibernation, here we can still plant and grow, while we will also spend more time indoors as the days grow shorter.
So it’s a good time to think about redecorating and recreating your indoor space. Check out Elizabeth Borelli’s piece on canning, something that will keep your cabinets full of fresh harvests and make for the best kind of holiday homemade gifts. Other outdoor revelations include John Koenig’s piece on koi pond collectors. Yes, a fish can sell for $20K. And Panashe Matemba-Mutasa looks at getting rid of your mowers and fertilizers and letting your lawn go feral, something I wonder about all the time, in our drought-ridden environment.
Food-wise, Mark C. Anderson has the inside scoop on the new restaurants at Santa Cruz’s long-awaited and long-debated La Bahia Hotel, something that will change the beachfront forever.
Andrew Steingrube brings you the story on Tramonti, a great restaurant now challenged by the closure of the Murray Street Bridge. I see local groups making a point of eating at places on both sides of the maze the closure has created and I tip my hat to them. It’s so sad to see businesses that struggled with the pandemic back in the hot seat with long-term road closures. Get out and patronize them, please.
Sometimes we forget we are an agricultural community, which has some drawbacks when it comes to doctors getting paid fairly, but is a joyous thing when you go to the Santa Cruz County Fair in Watsonville. It’s like a trip back in time to the good old days of pie-baking contests, photography shows, Lego building, crafts, arts and wild BMX riders, Mexican wrestlers, a hypnotist, cinnamon rolls, corn dogs, barbecue and carnival rides.
It’s sort of a bizarro world’s Burning Man, but you will run into everyone you’ve ever known there. Check our inside story on it.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
JUST BEACHY This dog and seal followed each other up the Aptos coast. Photograph by Thomas Brew
GOOD IDEA
The RTC invites you to participate in the Week Without Driving, Sept. 29–Oct. 5. For many, getting around without driving is a daily challenge, not a choice. During a Week Without Driving, we’re ditching the driver’s seat to understand how communities serve those who walk, roll, bike, carpool or take transit. You can participate in reducing air pollution with fewer cars on the road.
Improve your health by walking or biking. Enter a raffle to win prizes. Register at gosantacruzcounty.org and then log any bike, walk, transit or carpool trips during the driverless week to be automatically entered for the raffle.
GOOD WORK
Beginning Sept. 1, the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District will accept applications to fill three vacancies on its Advisory Committee. Applications must be submitted by Sept. 30. The committee advises the Board of Directors on policy issues related to customer service, bus operations, strategic planning and community needs. It meets quarterly, and appointees serve four years.
Visit scmtd.com/mac to learn more or submit an application. For questions, contact Santa Cruz METRO at 831-426-6080 or email ma*@sc***.com.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
‘You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.’
—Jon Kabat-Zinn
